Charlie Schouten

Developer Lunar has instructed Savills to market a residential development at Clarendon House in Altrincham, one of the town’s most prominent buildings which sits opposite its transport interchange.

Lunar has the long leasehold for the second to sixth floors with planning permission in place for a conversion of the existing 33,800 sq ft vacant office into 60 apartments, along with a rooftop extension.

Trafford Council owns the freehold of the building, which also houses retail units on the ground floor, and the town’s library on the first floor. The library is due to move to the recently-completed Health & Wellbeing Centre this month.

Savills, which has been instructed to market the building’s long leasehold on behalf of the developer, said there had been “lots of interest in the building already” and would be seeking unconditional offers into the New Year.

It is understood Lunar is looking for a residential development partner to bring forward the scheme under the existing planning consent, rather than opening up the building to a comprehensive redevelopment.

This would potentially rule out an alternative idea put forward by developer Novo along with Project3 and Planit-IE earlier this year for a major overhaul of the existing building, pictured below, featuring the demolition of the existing retail units along Stamford New Road, creating a new route through to the Stamford Quarter.

Under the alternative proposals, a new “piazza” could be created which could provide additional retail and leisure opportunities.

According to Novo’s proposals, the housing mix would remain largely the same for the apartments, but has the potential to include affordable homes for shared ownership, with a major housing association already expressing an interest in backing the plans. Lunar’s existing consent does not include any affordable housing.

Lunar had previously offered to buy the building but Trafford Council, which owns the freehold, said the disposal of the site was “not aligned” with its investment strategy, where it is seeking revenue returns.

Following any sale of the residential development part of the site, the council will receive a share and will also receive rental income from the project once it completes.

Lunar is a joint venture made up of international fund Apollo and UK-based fund M+M, which also owns the town’s Stamford Quarter retail centre. Interested parties should speak with Ed Rooney or Ned Brooks in Savills’ Manchester office.